Question About Morale

[Archlich]

Immediately after a unit's morale listing, sometimes there are parentheses containing plus and/or minus symbols. (+) or (++) or (-+). What do these mean? I can't find it in the manual. Thanks in advance!

lich

[Buster Crabbe's Uncle]

I always figured it's like a B+ grade - it's still a, say, green unit, but almost ready to promote...

[BlackCat]

I always figured it's like a B+ grade - it's still a, say, green unit, but almost ready to promote...

You have played this game for years and you don't know what those mean ?

They mean that the unit gets a morale bonus from f.ex. Children's Crèche when defending a base. Some society choices can also have effects giving these marks.

[Buster Crabbe's Uncle]

I've played since the year SMAC was released, and I guess I suck.

[Archlich]

So which is better? A single plus or a minus/plus? They can't all mean the same thing.

[BlackCat]

I can't recall ever seen (-+) so I'm not sure how it effects the unit. I guess that it means neutral morale - ie. the unit has potential for (++) but due to SE choices it doesn't have it. With the right SE choice you can actually have (++++).

You can read more about it in F1 - All concepts - Morale.

[Archlich]

With the right SE choice you can actually have (++++).

Of course I checked the datalinks before bothering to register here. What I know is this:

Very Green
Green
Disciplined
Hardened
Veteran
Commando
Elite

Each level up gives 12.5% bonus to combat. I won't bother listing indigenous life form equivalents.

Four plus signs in parentheses are useless to me if I don't know how they impact this math.

Thank you anyway!

lich

[Ijuin]

Each plus sign means that under the present conditions, the unit will be fighting at one morale level higher than its base level. So, a Disciplined unit with two plus signs will fight as though it were a Veteran unit. The reverse is also true--minus signs mean that it is fighting at lower morale levels, so two minus signs would have our Disciplined unit fighting as though it were Very Green. Note that a unit can not be boosted above Elite level or below Very Green level no matter how many plus or minuses it gets.